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Tuesday, June 9, 2015

As I was wandering the fields around my house last week, I was very aware of the strong scent of my surroundings.
The flowering rapeseed, the petrichor emanating after a short – but heavy rainfall, the lavender sprigs that where safely hidden in my pockets for upcoming (baking) projects,…

It was all pretty overwhelming. But in a good way.
It meant I was breathing again.

Breathing again after weeks (that eventually turned into months) of anxiety, overthinking, worrying. I have a bad habit of always thinking about the next thing (the next day, the next holiday, the next season) instead of living in the ‘now and today’.

Eyes glued on our phones and tablets, we go through life numbed by apps & web pages without actually looking and noticing the things around us. Today's motto seems to be: “Instagram it or it didn’t happen!”. But a simple snap of your lunch will not do. Every item must be curated and placed exactly like a still life painting. It’s in my opinion very tiresome and very hard to uphold.

Of course, I am part of the problem. As a blogger/instagrammer, I’m always looking for the perfect moment or opportunity. If I would listen to my inner worried little voice, I would move a flower from its vase a hundred times so that it would fall perfectly into place. All of that for one picture.

But that’s not real life.
Life is about embracing imperfections and living day by day, one moment at the time.
Noticing the small things that are part of this wonderful world.
A buzzing bug, a napping cat, dust dancing in the wind, the growing flowers during Spring,…

Reducing my time on social media has been a breath of fresh air. Instead of browsing Facebook for the twentieth time that day, I would read a few pages in a book or look around me. I used to think that checking Facebook & Twitter would ‘take my mind off things’ when life would get messy and stressy but instead it fueled my anxious thoughts. It was actually making things worse.

I’m not
trying to say that social media is a bad thing, because it’s not. I could write
an entire essay about how Instagram is bringing people – from around the world
closer together.

It’s the ‘always
being connected’ part I have difficulty with. I know a lot of people with see it as social suicide, but it's ok to turn off your phone from time to time.

Back in March (for Lent) I decided not to go on Facebook as often and only go on Instagram once or twice a day to post a picture. It was hard at first but now my need to always be connected has vanished.

Next time, when you are about the take a picture of the perfect latte art on your coffee, put your phone back into your pocket. Take a moment to smell the wonderful aroma of the roasted coffee beans and taste the airiness of the milk foam.